Razorbacks Watch

Alex Abrams

09/15/2009

FIRST DOWN: Smith Ready For More Work
Arkansas running back Michael Smith averaged 20.7 carries per game last season, so it was a bit different for him to get only four rushes in the season-opening win over Missouri State.

Because the Razorbacks have more depth in the backfield this season, Smith was used sparingly in the Sept. 5 opener, which quickly turned into a 48-10 rout in War Memorial Stadium.

The senior gained 43 yards and one touchdown on four carries, and he didn't get any carries in the fourth quarter. In a sign of how much things have changed since last season, freshman Ronnie Wingo Jr. led Arkansas in rushing with 50 yards on eight attempts.

"Since the last game, I've been kind of itching to get back on the field. I did not get as many carries as I wanted to or as many as I thought I was going to get," said Smith, who rushed for 1,072 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games last season.

"But that's fine. Coach (Bobby Petrino) had a different plan for me."

Smith will have a bigger role in the offense Saturday when Arkansas hosts No. 23 Georgia, though backups Dennis Johnson and Broderick Green will continue to carry some of the load.

"I just hope that we never have to get into a situation where we have to give it to him 35 times a game like we did (at times) last year," Horton said of Smith. "He's fresh and all of (the tailbacks) are fresh and so we need to have a great performance to beat Georgia."

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said Smith's fresh legs were apparent by the way he was running the football during Tuesday's practice.

"He looked fast," Petrino said. "He was flying around out there and so I'm excited to watch him play."

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

• Growing up in Bainbridge, Ga., Arkansas offensive tackle Ray Dominguez admitted he wanted to play for Georgia. But he instead signed with the Razorbacks, even though he said he was recruited by the Bulldogs.

"Coming out of high school, that's what you want. You want to be a Bulldog," Dominguez said. "But lucky for me I came to Arkansas, so now I get to play them."

• The Razorbacks held their first full practice in five days Tuesday. Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino was pleased with the intensity, even though the players had to deal with steady rain.

"It was quite a bit of rain, but we threw and caught the ball a lot better (Tuesday night)," Petrino said. "So it was good."

• Wide receiver Lucas Miller, who has been sidelined since preseason camp with a broken collarbone, took part in some drills. Meanwhile, wide receiver Marques Wade was absent from the first part of practice, which is open to the media.

INSIDE SCOOP: Attention Paid To Quarterbacks

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was naturally coy Monday when asked about how he intended to rotate quarterbacks Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson in Saturday's game against No. 23 Georgia.

Depending on how things go, the rotation could look as it did in the season opener against Missouri State, in which Mallett started the game and Wilson came in for the beginning of the second quarter.

Wilson said apparently the Hogs will proceed as they did against the Bears "and it will depend on the game situation, I think," Wilson said Tuesday. "I think we'll both be prepared and we're just going in with the mindset that we can be in the game at any point."

Petrino didn't want to give away any clues about how he intended to use Wilson, who combined with Mallett to set an Arkansas single-game record with 447 yards passing in the 48-10 win over Missouri State. Mallett accounted for the bulk of the yards, completing 17-of-22 passes for 309 yards with one touchdown.

"I haven't even thought about that yet," Petrino said of the quarterback rotation. "We'll talk about that later."

Without revealing his plan, Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said Tuesday the extra week to prepare for Georgia has given Mallett and Wilson more reps in practice to iron out any mistakes from the season opener.

"They got a lot of work these last two weeks," Paul Petrino said. "So hopefully we're a lot farther ahead than we were when we lined up and played last time."